Good Friday

April 2, 2021

Scripture Reading:
John 18:1-19:37

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, ‘You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing round it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself. –John 18:15-18

I listened to the young man testifying at the trial related to Georg Floyd’s death and cried for him. He felt at fault for Mr. Floyd’s death. If he had just refused to take the $20 bill he thought was counterfeit, the police would not have been called, and Mr. Floyd would not have been dead. The clerk was doing his job. I ran a cash register many years ago, where the staff was constantly warned about checking for counterfeit bills. The clerk was doubly concerned when he thought Mr. Floyd was high on drugs. That clerk will carry the guilt of the situation into the future. I pray for him that the experience turns him into a stronger person who can face the challenges of injustice within the context of righteousness. The witness has a good role model to follow, Simon Peter.

Peter, too, lived throughout his ministry with the knowledge he had denied Jesus. Tradition indicates when Peter was crucified in Rome many years later, he asked to be hung upside-down on the cross because he was not worthy to die the same death Jesus experienced.  The truth is that you and I would not have ever heard of this chosen One, this Jesus had there not been Peters and Pauls and James and Johns in the first century who shared the stories of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and worked to model his love. None of us are perfect. The witness to George Floyd’s death did his job correctly. What matters now in his life is how he grows in wisdom and in truth from that experience.

That clerk and the rest of us are called to recognize the societal ways of being that are not of God pandemic in our world. We must take up the mantle of those disciples who went before us and work for the justice and righteousness and love Jesus exemplified.

Prayer: God, empower your children to love like Jesus, who was willing to die on the cross for all, as we work to build a just world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.